Mukhtasar al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala al-Jahmiyya wal-Muattila

Mukhtasar al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala al-Jahmiyya wal-Muattila (The Summary of the Sent Thunderbolts against the Jahmites and Nullifiers) is a Sunni theological work abridged by the Shafi'i jurist and traditionist Ibn al-Mawsili (699–774 AH / 1300–1372 CE) from the extensive refutation written by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (691–751 AH / 1292–1350 CE) Mukhtasar al-Sawaiq al-Mu…+1.

Background and Significance

The original work by Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Sawaiq al-Mursala, was composed as a comprehensive critique of the Jahmiyya and the Mu'attila (divine attribute nullifiers), dismantling their theological arguments using both textual (manqul) and rational (ma'qul) proofs al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala …+1. Ibn al-Mawsili produced the oldest, most extensive, and most widely circulated abridgment of the work al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala ….

The primary historical and scholarly value of this summary stems from the loss of a major portion of Ibn al-Qayyim's original manuscript, as the abridgment preserved the contents of those missing sections and made them accessible to scholars prior to and after the discovery of the surviving partial manuscripts of the unabridged text al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala …+1.

Method and Scope

In his introduction, Ibn al-Mawsili referred to his abridgment under the title Isti'jal al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala al-Jahmiyya wal-Muattila ("Expediting the Sent Thunderbolts"), describing it as a selection drawn directly from the words of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya Mukhtasar al-Sawaiq al-Mu…+1.

Ibn al-Mawsili preserved the spirit, phrasing, and style of the original treatise without rewriting Ibn al-Qayyim's prose al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala …. His editorial method consisted of omitting selective words, phrases, and tangential scholarly digressions (istidradat), while reconnecting the remaining sentences to maintain narrative and argumentative continuity al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala ….

The book focuses on establishing the affirmation of the divine names and attributes and refuting the four major theological axioms that the author characterized as "idols" (tawaghit) used by theological innovators to undermine scriptural authority al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala …+1:

1. The premise that the texts of the Quran and Sunnah are mere verbal expressions (adillatun lafziyya) that do not impart certain knowledge al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala …+1.
2. The claim that scriptural texts describing divine attributes are figurative (majaz) rather than literal realities al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala …+1.
3. The assertion that authentic solitary transmissions (ahad) yield only conjecture (zann) rather than decisive knowledge al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala …+1.
4. The principle of giving precedence to speculative human intellect (aql) over revealed scripture (wahy) in cases of perceived contradiction al-Sawaiq al-Mursala ala …+1.